Mount Dora Academy Buck Foundation Turns Down Offer For Vacant

March 4, 1986|By Barbara Stewart of The Sentinel Staff

MOUNT DORA — The Pearl S. Buck Foundation in Pennsylvania has rejected a proposal to lease the long-vacant Mount Dora Academy for $1 million and to buy it in 10 years for another $1 million. The property was donated to the foundation six months ago by an industrialist.

Benjamin Ohrenstein, attorney for the Buck Foundation, confirmed that the offer was made by the Au Clair School for autistic children, which is in Bear, Del. The school's owners had hoped to teach autistic children and train clinical psychologists at the elaborate campus, he said, but their $1 million offer was far too little.

''Their offer wasn't even in the ballpark,'' he said. ''We didn't even consider it worthy of a counteroffer.''

Telephone calls to the Au Clair School in Delaware were not returned.

The Buck Foundation hopes to sell for $3 million the academy that includes a campus with tennis courts, a stable and aviary, six duplexes, classrooms, and a swimming pool, Ohrenstein said. The Au Clair School's director had offered $1 million to rent the academy for 10 years, with an option to buy it then for another $1 million, he said. The Lake County property appraiser's office estimates that the academy is worth $454,645.

The Buck Foundation wants to sell the academy and use the money to help gifted Asian orphans and children from single-parent homes, said Grace Sum, the director. It does not intend to use the facilities, she said.

Edward Roy, an industrialist from Pompano Beach who heads Advance Energy Technology in Sorrento, gave the academy and $2 million in cash and stocks to the Buck Foundation in July to start the program for gifted Asian children.

The program, called the Roy Family Endowment for Gifted Children, is in the planning stages, Sum said.

City Manager Tony Segreto said he was disappointed that the sale of such a major property had fallen through. The school buildings and property, which have been vacant for two years, could be a valuable asset for Mount Dora, he said.

Roy built the campus to offer a free education to gifted children ''who think originally,'' according to advertisements. The school, which attracted 34 students, closed abruptly in October 1984, after operating for less than six weeks.

Hester Wise, manager of Matsche Real Estate Co., which was handling the sale, said ''It would have been wonderful for the city if it had worked. It looked really promising for a while.''

Ohrenstein said the Buck Foundation will continue to try to attract buyers by running advertisements in national newspapers.